Handley, brett

Early years, school and university

Brett Handley was born June 15, 1993 in Phoenix in the family of Brett Sr. and April Handley. His father in 1986 played for the University of Arizona team at the position of a rannbek . Brett has two older sisters, Tatum and Paris, suffering from epilepsy . Since 2011, Handley regularly participates in charity events to raise funds for organizations involved in the fight against the disease ^[1] . His first coach was Jim Yuen, with whom Brett played in the school team in Chandler . In 2009, he was recognized as the Player of the Year in Arizona ^[2] .

In 2011, Brett entered the University of California at Los Angeles , studied sociology . In 2012, he became the starting quarterback of the UCLA Bruins university team. In the debut season for himself in the NCAA championship , Handley took part in all fourteen games, gaining 3,740 pass yards and setting a new team record. In the game for the Holiday Bowl, on December 27, he scored 329 pass yards and made three touchdowns, but the Bruins lost to Baylor Bears with a score of 26:49. At the end of the season, Brett was recognized as his team's Novice of the Year ^{[2] [3]} .

In 2013, Handley played in all thirteen matches. In a game with the California Golden Bears, he set a personal best by gaining 410 pass yards. The season for the team ended on December 31 with the match for the Sun Bowl in El Paso . 42:12 beat the Bruins with Virginia Tech Hokis, and Brett, along with team-mate Jordan Zumvalt, shared the award for the Most Valuable Player of the match, making two pass and two touchdowns ^{[2] [4]} .

Last season for the “Bruins” Handley spent in 2014, again playing in all thirteen matches of the team. He became the first starting quarterback in the history of the university, who managed to win at least nine victories in three seasons in a row. At the end of the championship, Brett became one of the twenty-five best NCAA players in six different statistical indicators. He also set a new team record for the number of pass-through touchdowns in his career, bringing the number to seventy-five ^[2] .

NCAA Championship Performance Statistics

Professional career

In 2015, Brett nominated for the NFL draft . As the strengths of Handley, the league website singled out its build, ability to maneuver on the field, good throw technique and speed. The ability to play a portable attack increases the danger of the quarterback in the immediate vicinity of the opponent's test zone. The weak sides indicated a weak reading of the game of defenders, some sluggishness in making decisions, due to which for three years at Handley University 125 times fell under the SEC. It was noted that in the Bruins the attack used more short passes, which made it possible to level the flaws of its quarterback ^[5] .

In the draft, Brett was selected in the fifth round under the total number 147 by the Green Bay Packers club. Commenting on the results of the draft, NFL website analyst Mike Dalgherian said that the development of the player behind Aaron Rogers can be called a blessing for Handley, who will need at least two years to adapt to the league ^[5] .

Green Bay Packers

On May 7, 2015, Brett signed a four-year contract with Packers. Eliot Wolfe, director of the club for working with players, commenting on the agreement, said that Handley has room to develop and the organization of the attack at the university is significantly different from that adopted by Green Bay. NFL website observer Mark Sessler noted that Handley will fight for the team's second quarterback with Matt Blanchard and Scott Tolzien ^[6] .

Brett had a good pre-season preparation, in four pre-season matches, completing 45 passes from 65 attempts and becoming the best in pasa rating with a score of 129.6 ^[7] . Bright performance did not help him win the competition and in the 2015 championship Handley did not go on the field. In March 2016, the Packers traded Tolzien at Indianapolis Colts and Handley became the team's second quarterback ^[8] . In the regular season, Brett took part in four games, managing to realize only two attempts out of ten ^[9] .

Handley got a chance to prove himself in October 2017 after Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone in the first quarter of the match against the Vikings . Brett came on as a substitute, gave 18 accurate passes from 33 attempts, gaining 157 yards. In the second quarter of the game, he gave the first touchdown pass in his NFL career. At the same time, Handley threw three interceptions and the game ended with the victory of “Minnesota” with a score of 23:10. After the match, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy supported the player, calling him “his quarterback” ^{[10] [11]} .

Replacing Rogers, Handley played nine more games for Green Bay. “Packers” won only three of them and, after a successful start with five wins in six games, dropped to third place in the table of the NFC Central Division. After the end of the championship, the club traded with Deshon Kaiser from Cleveland . In the offseason, Brett tried to fight for a place in the squad, scoring 263 yards in the preparatory matches, but in the end the Packers decided to exchange him ^[9] .

Reservist

At the end of August 2018, Seattle Seahawks traded Handley, giving him the right to choose in the sixth round of the 2019 draft pick. Commenting on his transition, Brett said that he was “happy to be able to start anew” ^[12] . In the regular season, he did not get the opportunity to prove himself and in March 2019 in the status of a free agent, he signed a contract with " Arizona ". In the Cardinals, Brett took the position of a spare quarterback instead of the dismissed Mike Glennon ^[13] .

NFL Performance Statistics

Regular Championship

Play Off

Personal life

With his wife, Daniella Bosh, Brett met at the university in 2012. In 2016, they got married. She studied philosophy, currently has a musical career, performing under the pseudonym Dionne Anil. Together they collaborate with the Athletes Against Epilepsy Foundation ^{[1] [14]} .

• Statistics on the site pro-football-reference.com (English)